A large landslide in a mining operation in the province of Erzincan (in eastern Turkey) has buried nine workers whom hundreds of rescuers are trying to locate.
It is unknown if they are alive or deceased.
The avalanche also threatens to cause a cyanide spill into the nearby Euphrates River.
Authorities arrested four individuals this Wednesday in connection with the case.
The accident occurred on Tuesday in the gold mine in the town of Cöpler, in the open-air area where the leaching process takes place, that is, applying cyanide to separate gold from other minerals and soils.
The landslide occurred in an area of about 200 meters of slope and displaced 10 million cubic meters of earth at a speed of 10 meters per second over almost a kilometer, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who has moved to the area to supervise rescue efforts.
A statement from the College of Geological Engineers indicates that one of the probable causes of the landslide may be the recent rains, together with the “saturation” of the land with liquid products used during leaching.
At the time of the avalanche, five workers were inside a container, one in the cabin of a truck and the remaining three in another vehicle, which offers some hope of finding them alive, although 24 hours after the accident there is still no information. has been able to contact them.
Its exact position is being triangulated through the use of radar, in an operation that has mobilized 300 rescuers and a thousand personnel from various bodies, including scientists and experts.
“The search will continue without pause, day and night,” the minister promised.
Opposition media have reported that the landslide would have damaged the cyanide and sulfuric acid deposits used in gold extraction, although the authorities have denied this point.
The Government delegate in the province of Erzincan, Hamza Aydogdu, stated that “at the moment there has been no discharge” and no toxic discharges are expected into the Euphrates River, next to which the mine is located.
However, experts from the Ministry of the Environment have begun taking samples to investigate possible leaks and the ministry has reported in a statement that the mine's drain gates have been closed to prevent spills.
Canadian-American company
The Ministry of Justice has appointed four prosecutors to investigate the accident and has announced the arrest of four individuals allegedly linked to the company.
Anagold is the firm that has operated the mine since 2010 and is owned by the Canadian-American company SSR Mining (80%) and the Turkish conglomerate Calik (20%), very close to the President's Executive, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Several experts have complained that the mine does not meet necessary safety standards.
In June 2022, a spill of 20 cubic meters of cyanide occurred on empty land when a mine pipe exploded.
The farm then remained closed for 88 days, while the investigation lasted, which concluded with a fine of 16.5 million lire (just under one million euros at the time).
However, the same year, the Government forgave a tax debt of 209 million lire (about 10 million euros), according to the newspaper
Evrensel.
Last November, the Union of Colleges of Engineers and Architects of Turkey (TMMOB) filed a complaint against the Anagold mine, warning of “the risks of landslides and avalanches” due to the company's bad practices and because it is located on a fault. active in an area of great seismic activity.
“We said that a disaster was approaching, and in the end it has happened,” the organization lamented in a statement.
Opposition parties have complained that, despite warnings from experts, authorities allowed the mine's operations to expand.
The parliamentary spokesperson of the center-left CHP party, Gökhan Günaydin, denounced that while in the European Union and other countries certain cyanide processes in gold mining have been banned, in Turkey they continue to be done despite their serious environmental and health consequences. .
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